| Eragon | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Stefen Fangmeier |
| Produced by | John Davis Adam Goodman Gil Netter |
| Screenplay by | Peter Buchman |
| Based on | Eragon by Christopher Paolini |
| Starring | Edward Speleers Jeremy Irons Sienna Guillory Robert Carlyle John Malkovich Garrett Hedlund Rachel Weisz (voice) |
| Music by | Patrick Doyle |
| Cinematography | Hugh Johnson |
| Editing by | Roger Barton Masahiro Hirakubo Chris Lebenzon |
| Studio | Davis Entertainment |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | December 14, 2006 |
| Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | United States United Kingdom Hungary Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $100 million |
| Box office | $249,488,115 |
Eragon is a 2006 fantasy-adventure film loosely based on the novel of the same name by author Christopher Paolini. The cast includes Edward Speleers in the title role, Jeremy Irons, Garrett Hedlund, Sienna Guillory, Robert Carlyle, John Malkovich, Djimon Hounsou, Alun Armstrong, Joss Stone, and the voice of Rachel Weisz as Saphira the dragon.
The film was directed by Stefen Fangmeier, a first-time director, who had previously worked as a visual effects director on Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. The screenplay was written by Peter Buchman, who is best known for Jurassic Park III. Principal photography took place at the Mafilm Fót Studios in Hungary, starting on August 1, 2005. Special visual effects and animation were by Weta Digital and Industrial Light & Magic.
Eragon was released worldwide between December 13 and December 15, 2006 by 20th Century Fox. It was the 10th worst reviewed film of 2006 on Rotten Tomatoes,[1] and the 31st highest grossing film of 2006 in the US.[2] A DVD and Blu-ray of the film was released March 20, 2007. It has first aired on Disney XD in the United States as a television broadcast on April 6, 2009. This film was the debut of soul singer Grammy-winner Joss Stone as an actress.
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Eragon (Edward Speleers) is a 17-year-old farm boy (15 in the book) who lives in the small village of Carvahall in the fictional country of Alagaësia. Alagaësia contains dragons and other fictional creatures. While hunting, he finds a large dragon egg from which hatches a blue dragon named Saphira (voice of Rachel Weisz). Eragon decides to keep Saphira a secret, but a pair of insect like humanoids that are primarily used to hunt humans and dragon riders because of their ability to block all magic attacks towards them, the Ra'zac, are sent by Galbatorix (John Malkovich), the despotic King, to find Eragon and Saphira. This causes Eragon to flee his home but when he returns he finds his uncle Garrow (Alun Armstrong) has been killed by the Ra'zac and so sets out on a journey to avenge him. Accompanied by a sage storyteller named Brom (Jeremy Irons), Eragon, and Saphira take up the legacy of legendary Dragon Riders. He learns magic, swordfighting, and dragon-riding to fulfill his destiny: to overthrow the Empire and its king.
Plans to create a film based on Christopher Paolini's best-selling novel were first announced in February 2004. 20th Century Fox purchased the rights to Eragon. Screenwriter Peter Buchman, whose credits included Jurassic Park III, wrote the screenplay. Buchman, a fan of fantasy and science fiction literature and films, says he was "blown away" by the author's precociousness, his mastery of plot lines and characters, and his ability to create several completely imaginary worlds.
Edward Speleers was selected for the title role after a worldwide casting search. "Ed came in [to the casting session], and we just looked at each other and said, "That's Eragon, that's the guy from the book," said director Stefen Fangmeier: "I got a strong sense of Ed's sparkle, of his life. It's the kind of thing where you just know he's destined to become a movie star. Speleers won the role as he was trying to learn his lines for a school production of Hamlet. Others considered for the role included Alex Pettyfer but since production took place in central Europe and Pettyfer is afraid of flying, he declined the role.[3]
On July 15, 2005, in an official press release from 20th Century Fox, it was confirmed that Speleers had signed on to the project. Over the following months, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Chris Egan, and Djimon Hounsou were all confirmed as joining the Eragon cast. Paolini, author of the original novel, had expressed his wishes to be featured in a cameo role in the film — specifically, as a warrior who is beheaded in the battle of Farthen Dûr. However, he was unable because of his European book tour.[4]
Jeremy Irons, who welcomed the opportunity to reintroduce himself to younger audiences, took on the role although Dungeons & Dragons (a previous fantasy film he had acted in) had flopped, and he said that he thought that Eragon "had been better managed" than that film.[5]
In August 2005, Fox began filming Eragon at various locations throughout Hungary and Slovakia, including:
Filming ended a month later in September, beginning the film's post-production stage, with Industrial Light and Magic creating the film's CGI.
The decision was made later on in production to add feathers to the standard bat-like wings of the dragon Saphira.[6] The studio had been inspired by the Angel's wings in X-Men: The Last Stand.[7] Jean Bolte, lead viewpaint artist for ILM on the film, calls them "skethers" (half-feathers, half-scales) and was inspired by the scales of the pangolin.[8] It was eventually decided that Saphira's colors scheme should be subdued rather than vibrant in order to be more realistic.[7]
| Eragon: Music from the Motion Picture | ||||
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| Soundtrack album by Patrick Doyle | ||||
| Released | December 12, 2006 | |||
| Recorded | 2005-2006 | |||
| Length | 55:24 | |||
| Label | RCA | |||
| Producer | Patrick Doyle, Maggie Rodford | |||
| Patrick Doyle chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Eragon soundtrack | ||||
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The score for the film was composed by Patrick Doyle who also did the score of 2005's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Avril Lavigne also recorded the theme song for the film, entitled "Keep Holding On," which was featured in the credits and on the soundtrack.[9] The track was released as a single in 2006 (and later as a track on her 2007 album The Best Damn Thing) and reached 17 on Billboard Hot 100 singles charts in America.[10]
The video game based on the motion picture was developed by Stormfront Studios and Amaze Entertainment and was released in November 2006.
The film was the 10th worst reviewed film of 2006, garnering a 16% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes.[11] However, Rotten tomatoes audience ratings gave it an approval rating of 58%, from 487,000 ratings. The Seattle Times described the film as "technically accomplished, but fairly lifeless and at times a bit silly".[12] The Hollywood Reporter said the world of Eragon was "without much texture or depth."[13] The story was labeled "derivative" by The Washington Post,[14] and "generic" by the Las Vegas Weekly.[15] Newsday stressed this point further, asserting that only "nine-year-olds with no knowledge whatsoever of any of the six Star Wars movies would find the film original." [16] The acting was called "lame" by the Washington Post,[14] plus "stilted" and "lifeless" by the Orlando Weekly.[17] The dialogue was also criticized: MSNBC labelled it "silly";[18] the Las Vegas Weekly called it "wooden."[15]
Positive reviews described the film as "fun"[19] and "the stuff boys' fantasies are made of."[20] The CGI work was called "imaginative" and Saphira was called a "magnificent creation."[21] Christopher Paolini stated he enjoyed the film, particularly praising the performances of Jeremy Irons and Edward Speleers.[22]
Fans of the original Inheritance Cycle, however, thought differently of the adaptation: the inaccurate casting and the reworking of the plot prompted a fanbase known as the Inherifamily to metaphorically disown the movie. When asked about the film in question, they respond with only one thing: why are we going to Vroengard?, this being a reference to the fourth book in the Inheritance Cycle.
Eragon grossed approximately $75 million in the US and $173.9 million elsewhere, grossing $249 million worldwide.[23] Director Stefen Fangmeier believes that Fox were "modestly happy with the worldwide box office."[24] Eragon is the 13th highest grossing fantasy-live action film within the United States; 21st when adjusted for inflation.[25] It is the second highest grossing film with a dragon at its focal point.[26][27] Adjusted for inflation it falls to eighth place behind such films as Willow, Dragonheart, The Dark Crystal and Conan the Barbarian.[28]
Eragon was in release for 17 weeks in the US, opening on December 15, 2006 and closing on April 8, 2007.[29] It opened in 3020 theaters, earning $8.7 million on opening day and $23.2 million across opening weekend, ranked 2nd behind The Pursuit of Happyness.[30] Eragon's second weekend US box office dropped by almost 70%, possibly due to the opening of Night at the Museum, another family film from 20th Century Fox,[31] the 41st biggest second weekend drop since this statistic was kept.[32] Eragon's $75 million total US gross was the 31st highest for 2006.[33]
The film earned $150 million in its opening weekend across 76 overseas markets, making it the #1 film worldwide.[34] This was attributed to the sheer scope of Eragon's global launch as the film ranked number 1 in less than half of the overseas territories it was released in.[35] The foreign box office competition for the film's opening week was "soft;"[36] had Eragon been released one year earlier, it would have been placed fourth.[37] Eragon's UK opening was "a disappointment,"[35] in Australia it was "solid if unimpressive,"[35] but its most impressive market was France,[38] where the film earned more than $21 million.[39] The film's $249 million total worldwide gross was the 16th highest for 2006.[40] Eragon grossed $86,995,160 on DVD from 3/20/2007-5/13/2007.[41]
Eragon was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the US on March 20, 2007. It debuted at number 1 on the national DVD sales charts and at number 3 on the DVD rental charts.[42] It grossed more than US$35.2 million in rentals.[43] It was released on DVD in Europe on April 16, 2007 and in Australia on April 18, 2007.
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